Claire Finn
/Gallery}} Doctor 'Claire J. Finn'Middle initial "J." is revealed in ''A Happy Refrain''. is the Human Lieutenant Commander and Chief Medical Officer aboard the [[USS Orville|USS Orville]]. Doctor Finn is a seasoned officer who has served aboard many Planetary Union vessels. Claire transferred to the Orville shortly before September, 2419, when she learned the ship was getting a new captain, Ed Mercer.Episode 1x01: Old Wounds She lives on the USS Orville with her two sons, Ty and Marcus Finn. Early history Claire was born in Baltimore, Maryland on Earth to a sensible but "open-minded" mother.Claire Finn: "I hear my mother's words in my head: 'Be open-minded, but not so open-minded your brain falls out.'" Episode 2x06: A Happy Refrain She recalls Baltimore full of arts and entertainment. While she prefers life aboard the Orville, she had not returned to her hometown in some time and misses the rain.Episode 2x06: A Happy Refrain I used to sit outside on the front porch before a thunderstorm and smell the ozone in the air. And then the rain would come crashing down in big, dark curtains, and it was exciting and beautiful and humbling and wonderful. And I always thought to myself, ''This is what being alive is all about.Episode 2x06: A Happy Refrain She later tried to recreate her childhood experiences in the Environmental Simulator, but "the smells are never completely accurate."Episode 2x06: A Happy Refrain She joined the Planetary Union as a commissioned officer and working in the Medical wing. She specialized in molecular surgery, DNA engineering, and psychiatry and took an interest in temporal field technology, the acceleration of time within a quantum bubble.Episode 1x01: Old Wounds At this time, Claire worked on an unknown project with Lewis, a civilian Union anthropologist, and the two became close friends.Episode 1x07: Majority Rule Claire is a single parent. For most of her life, Claire desired children, but by her own description, she never found a man suited to be her husband.Episode 1x08: Into the Fold Near the year 2409, then in her mid-30s, she decided to have a child on her own through artificial impregnation, and gave birth to Marcus.The year 2409 is merely a guess based on Marcus Finn's age. Episode 1x08: Into the Fold Several years later, she used artificial impregnation again to bear a second child, Ty. She requested a transfer to the Orville in 2419. By that point, Claire was already a highly experienced doctor and over-qualified for the post. She later recalled that she requested the Orville because she wanted a ship with a freshman captain: "I always request my transfers based on where I'm needed. I'm more stimulated that way."Episode 1x01: Old Wounds Career under Captain Mercer Doctor Finn arrives at the Orville shortly before Captain Ed Mercer in September 2419, and almost immediately ingratiates herself among the crew as a smart and collected senior officer.Episode 1x01: Old Wounds "This is your first command," she tells Ed at their first meeting. "And I think you can use my help."Episode 1x01: Old Wounds When Claire arrived at the Orville, she was given an office on the ship at the front of Sick Bay, where she now leads a staff of medical officers. From the earliest days under Captain Mercer, she quickly establishes herself as a source of strength for the rest of the senior staff and frequently remains on the BridgeFinn can be found on the Bridge during the ship's first departure under Captain Mercer, and during a battle with a Krill destroyer outside the planet Epsilon 2. Episode 1x01: Old Wounds. to stay abreast of the ship's affairs.Episode 1x02: Command Performance Yet her presence both on the Bridge and in Sick Bay places her in the unique position to help the Bridge officers and to communicate the needs of the rest of the ship. Claire becomes a tough but loving therapist and adviser for the rest of the senior staff.Finn advises and comforts Alara Kitan, whom was acting commander at the time. Episode 1x02: Command Performance. Claire serves as acting commander in October 2419, when Ed and First Officer Kelly Grayson go missing, Second Officer Bortus is on a leave of absence, and Alara joins Isaac for an away mission to the Calivon system. As the highest ranking officer on the ship, Claire is placed in the Captain's chair.Finn advises and comforts Alara Kitan, whom was acting commander at the time. Episode 1x02: Command Performance. Claire has other responsibilities as well. In December 2420, she writes a paper on the use of nanosynthesis in Xelayan tissue regeneration and supervises the shipment of a vaccine to Alamak 3.Episode 2x06: A Happy Refrain In early 2421, the Kaylon seize the Orville and imprison Claire and other surviving officers in the Shuttle Bay. She allows Ty to sneak with Lieutenant Yaphit into the communications array to send a warning to Planetary Union Central of an imminent attack. After the officers retake control of the Orville, Claire works in Sick Bay during the Battle of Earth.Episode 2x09: Identity, Pt. 2 Mission to Epsilon 2 Claire's skills would be put to the test one week into her transfer to the Orville on a resupply mission to the Epsilon Science Station on the planet Epsilon 2. Claire joins Ed, Kelly, and Alara to speak with Doctor Aronov. Aronov is adamant that enemy Krill are interested in stealing a [[Quantum accelerator|''quantum accelerator]], a device which can accelerate the flow of time, for themselves. They are interrupted by Doctor Derek Ashton, a lab technician and undercover Krill operative, who takes Claire hostage. She is rescued by Chief of Security Alara Kitan, who distracts and subdues Derek. Derek had already called for Krill support, and a cloaked Krill destroyer comes out of hiding to raid the facility. Faced with three teams of Krill soldiers, Claire and the others battle their way to their shuttle and return to the Orville. Along the way, she treats Ed for a shoulder wound. The experience solidified her place as both a valuable medic and a practiced voice of reason for the crew. Mission to the Dorahl bioship guides Captain Ed Mercer, Claire, and Science Officer Isaac to the hideout of the Reformers on the Dorahl bioship.]] The senior officers had not yet needed Claire for her medical abilities aside from basic treatment. That would change two months after the battle at Epsilon 2, when Claire is again sent on an away mission, this time to visit a mysterious bioship adrift in space. When the team enters the massive ship, communications with the Orville are blocked. Alara is shot by a bioship officer. With no easy way back to the Orville, a crisis erupts. Claire is able to treat the wound using her Foreign Object Retractor and dermoscanner from her Medical Kit, and save Alara's life. Search for Lewis and Tom In late 2419, Claire's close friend Lewis went missing during an undercover assignment with fellow researcher Tom on Sargus 4. Union command was unable to re-establish communication with the pair. She joins a search team in the winter of 2420. Unfortunately, the team is too late. Tom was killed by a Sargun Department of Corrections guard attempting to flee Social Correction, a dramatic neurological operation similar to a frontal lobotomy. Claire is devastated when she finally finds Lewis: he was "corrected," his personality erased and mind forever altered, and the old friend as she knew him gone. Shuttle crash and kidnapping .]] Claire had proven her worth as a doctor and a capable fighter, but her greatest test comes six months into working on the Orville. Wanting to spend more time with her sons, Marcus and Ty, she plans a vacation to Arboreus Prime. The trio leaves the Orville in January or early February, 2420, in a shuttle piloted by Science Officer Isaac. However, en route to Arboreus, an uncharted spatial fold sends the shuttle into an unknown area of the galaxy, the shuttle crashing into a nearby moon. Survival Claire is separated from the others during the crash. Drogen, a survivalist, discovers her unconscious, and carries her back to his compound. The moon's nations were recently at war, and one side poisoned the water supply with poloxus. Drogen foresaw the attack and stockpiled food and weapons in his fortified compound. He refuses to allow Claire to leave, and she becomes Drogen's prisoner. Claire injures herself in order to send Drogen to the crash site in search of antibiotics. Meanwhile, she scours the facility and finds a knife. She stabs Drogen when he returns; later shooting and killing him with his own handgun. With Drogen dead, Claire recovers her comscanner and rejoins Isaac and her children. The four sufficiently repair the shuttle to hail the Orville for rescue. Meanwhile, other inhabitants of the moon were alerted to the noise. Driven to cannibalism through sheer starvation, the inhabitants attempt to kill and eat the four. Using PM-44s set to stun, Claire and Marcus drive their attackers away. Aftermath The Orville rescues Claire and the others. The experience marks a transformative moment between Isaac and the Finn family, as Claire's relationship with Isaac grew into a friendship over their first six months together on the Orville. Alternate timelines In an alternate timeline where the time-travelling thief Pria Lavesque does not attempt to steal the Orville, Claire is killed - along with the rest of the Orville - in a dark matter storm in the fall of 2420.Episode 1x05: Pria In a second alternate timeline where Kelly does not date Ed, Claire never serves aboard the Orville. (She had joined because she wanted to assist an inexperienced captain.Episode 1x01: Old Wounds) After the Battle of Earth, where most of humanity is destroyed by the Kaylon, Claire and her children join a scavenger ship with Kelly, Talla Keyali, Ed, Gordon Malloy, John LaMarr, and Bortus. The crew sends Claire seven years back in time to Kelly to correct the timeline. She is successful and vanishes.Episode 2x14: The Road Not Taken Conflict and relationship with Yaphit 's constant advances.]] After Claire's arrival at the Orville, Engineer Yaphit develops a profound romantic interest in her, often singing to her with a guitar or giving her gifts. Claire, on the other hand, finds Yaphit's persistent wooing to be uncomfortable and annoying. In November, 2419, Yaphit begins feigning illness as an excuse to meet Claire in Sick Bay and ask her out on a date, which he attempts three times over the span of a week. After she turns him down, he makes a crude, sexual pass, after which she angrily demands he leave.Episode 1x03: About a Girl His persistence grates on Claire, eventually she threatens Yaphit with a formal complaint, if he continues his inappropriate behavior. After playing a song, and confessing his love, Claire fed up, threatens to file a formal complaint. Episode 1x09: Cupid's Dagger In February, 2420, Yaphit returns to romancing Claire. He brings a guitar, flowers, and refuses to leave without a date. However, Yaphit had bumped into Darulio on his way to see Claire. Unbeknownst to Yaphit and Claire, Darulio, a Retepsian, produced powerful pheromones that sparks sexual attraction between carrier and recipient. Yaphit transmitted the pheromones to Claire, creating a powerful romantic and sexual interest in Claire towards Yaphit.Episode 1x09: Cupid's Dagger Claire and Yaphit begin a sexual relationship lasting several days until the pheromones wear off. During that time, Claire grows increasingly obsessed with the Engineer. She later comments to Alara: I just never gave him a chance. But when I finally allowed myself to take down my walls, I realized what an idiot I've been. Yaphit and I are soul mates.''Episode 1x09: Cupid's Dagger Her obsession grows dangerous during the Navarian-Bruidian conflict, keeping Yaphit at gunpoint from erecting a special barrier between the Navarians and Bruidian war fleets. Claire avoids punishment as she was under the overwhelming influence of alien pheromones, but Yaphit leaves Claire alone after the incident.Episode 1x09: Cupid's Dagger Relationship with Isaac When Claire and Isaac first meet in September of 2419, Claire resents his sense of intellectual superiority. "You harbor prejudice against artificial life-forms," Isaac later remarks. She responds, "Only against life-forms that think they're better than everyone else." When Isaac affirms that he ''is better than everyone else, Claire sarcastically diagnoses, "Oh, and so modest."Episode 1x08: Into the Fold Further, she dislikes that Isaac presumes to offer parenting tips when he was artificial and incapable of parenthood. After Isaac, Claire, and her sons are rescued in late February 2420, Claire develops feelings for Isaac.Claire Finn: "I think it's been brewing since the shuttle crash." Episode 2x06: A Happy Refrain The Kaylon officer protected Marcus and Ty on the moon, and did his best to comfort them. In a private conversation between the two, Claire notes her sons now adore Isaac and says, "Welcome to the family."Episode 1x08: Into the Fold The two continue to work together. In December 2420, Isaac corrects Claire's paper on nanosynthesis in Xelayan tissue regeneration, brings her a banana, and notices that she changed her hair style.Episode 2x06: A Happy Refrain "When I'm with him... we get along very well. I feel warmth."Claire Finn. Episode 2x06: A Happy Refrain Claire asks Isaac out to the Union Symphony followed by dinner in the Environmental Simulator. The first date is a dud; Isaac downloads all information about her from the Orville's files, and Claire does not feel "excitement" without getting to know each other. After Isaac wakes her up with a cake at 3:00 a.m., Claire tells him that she "reached out in the wrong direction."Episode 2x06: A Happy Refrain Isaac deletes his information on Claire and attempts a second dinner date - complete with a simulated Human body. Claire is enamored: "He figured out a way to say, 'I'm trying. Let me try.'"Episode 2x06: A Happy Refrain The two sleep together. Shortly after, Isaac convinces Claire to end the relationship by acting selfishly.Episode 2x06: A Happy Refrain Isaac begins to malfunction following the breakup, realizing (in a certain way) he has fallen in love. To win Claire back, he calls her to the Bridge, sets the ship's environmental controls to "rain," and plays "Singing in the Rain." He apologizes and states that he is better with her than without her, and the two return to the simulator for dinner at her favorite restaurant on Earth.Episode 2x06: A Happy Refrain The two begin dating and, about a month later, announce their relationship to Marcus and Ty. Isaac suddenly de-activates and is returned to Kaylon 1. Upon reactivation, he announces his return to the Kaylon and their brief relationship dissolves. In the aftermath of the Battle of Earth, Claire states that she will one day forgive him.Episode 2x08: Identity, Pt. 1 Personality Doctor Finn is a strong-willed, independent mother who is career-minded. Almost immediately after meeting Captain Mercer for the first time, he puts her on the defensive by saying, "You don't think I have the balls to do this job." Claire shoots back, "Well, I am your doctor, sir, and if your balls are under par, I'll know."Episode 1x01: Old Wounds In an alternate timeline, its shown that Mercer was the reason she joined the crew in the first place as she felt he would need her help and she only wanted to work somewhere that she would be needed.Episode 2x14: The Road Not Taken As the oldest member of the senior staff, Claire often serves informally as a ship's therapist. Alara, the youngest senior officer, especially seeks out Claire for guidance.When Ed and Kelly are kidnapped by Calivon zookeepers in October, 2419, 23-year-old Alara is placed in the Captain's chair. However, due to a series of command missteps, the ship is badly damaged and many people hurt. Alara sees her own inexperience as inability to lead and requests Claire to remove her from command. Claire refuses. She acknowledges that Alara may have made a mistake, even one that hurt their own crew, but that Alara learned from her error and is fit to command. The Doctor agrees to advise Alara more often in the future. Later, when Alara must decide whether to follow orders from Planetary Union Central not to rescue the missing commanders, Claire refused to decide for Alara, but simply clarified the problem so that she could better choose for herself. Episode 1x02: Command Performance Claire consoles Bortus through a difficult time in his marriage to Klyden as well.Episode 1x09: Cupid's Dagger Claire is a woman of science. When she visits the Epsilon Science Station, she is the crewmember most fascinated by the facility's tremendous scientific advances, in particular its quantum accelerator.Episode 1x01: Old Wounds For all of Claire's talents as a therapist, she often struggles to understand why people choose emotionally satisfying options over factually-based ones.When the Reformers explain that, even after presented with proof that Hamelac's government is based on untruths, the Dorahlian people would refuse to accept it, Claire does not understand why people would prefer a comforting lie over the truth. Episode 1x04: If the Stars Should Appear.Claire thinks that people of Sargus 4 could fact-check manipulative posts uploaded by the Orville onto the planet's Master Feed, but Lysella says, "Don't worry. They won't." Episode 1x07: Majority Rule Mother of Marcus and Ty Claire is a loving, doting mother, but at times is frustrated by her children's antics. "Nobody told me it would be this bad," she complains about Marcus' combativeness. "It seems he hates me for no reason."Episode 2x01: Ja'loja Relationship with the crew Claire's relationship with Second Officer Bortus is tenser, and the two are prone to heated disagreement. In November, 2419, he requests that she perform a sex reassignment surgery on his newborn daughter, a request Claire finds reprehensible. She refuses on the grounds that to perform the operation would violate her Hippocratic Oath. Later that, she is called to testify in a subsequent trial addressing whether to order or enjoin Moclan doctors from performing the operation. Production promotional image of Claire.]]Claire Finn is portrayed by Penny Johnson Jerald. According to supervising producer André Bormanis, Claire's wisdom and wit function as a literary tool to enable other characters to discover solutions to problems.Bond, Jeff. The World of the Orville. Titan Books. 2018. Pg. 42. Jerald later described Claire as "the Orville's conscience adult. She has a tongue sharpened with wisdom and fortitude." Creator Seth MacFarlane aimed for Claire to serve as "the adult of the group," although initial drafting of Claire was spartan and not detailed."Inside Look In 360° | Season 1 | THE ORVILLE". Fox. Sept. 1, 2017. In the original pilot script, she is described only as a black woman in her 40s.MacFarlane, Seth. Orville 1x01 - Pilot. Fox Broadcasting Co. Actress Penny Johnson Jerald, who portrays Claire, says that she envisions her character as a funny and wise officer with an attitude, calling her "the sage with sass." Later, she said that Claire is an extension of her personality, a level-headed adult in times of crises.DesJardins, Jordan. "NYCC 2017: What’s Up Doc? Penny Johnson Jerald Talks ‘The Orville’". ScienceFiction.com. Oct. 13, 2017. Claire's wig was designed by hair department head Maxine Morris in consultation with Howard Berger, make-up department head for Season 1. In early episodes, Claire wore a wig with a short taper at the neck, no bangs, and a green streak extension added to compliment her uniform. After a few episodes, Morris switched to a wig with bangs but the extension was kept for continuity.Berger, Howard & Maxine Morris. "Space and Beyond". The Artisan. 2018. Doctor Finn sketch V1.jpg Doctor Finn sketch V3.jpg Doctor Finn sketch V4.jpg Trivia * .]]Claire's middle initial is revealed to be "J." in ''A Happy Refrain'', but what it stands for is still unknown. * In the episode If the Stars Should Appear, Claire reveals that she suffers from near-debilitating acrophobia, a fear of heights, and grabs Isaac's hand for comfort. In the episode Into the Fold, she is forced to overcome her fear when she has to escape from Drogen's compound. Later, Isaac holds her hand to comfort her. * While she seems to enjoy giving advice, Claire does not enjoy being placed in command of the ship.Episode 1x02: Command Performance * She hates the planet Moclus because "they've completely industrialized the entire surface. It's amazing they can even breathe." * She is able to quote the works of Ralph Waldo Emerson extensively.Epsilon 1x04: If the Stars Should Appear * Alara fights an evil version of Claire in the Environmental Simulator. She kills a simulated Nurse Henry Park and attempts to kill Alara.Episode 10: Firestorm ** Isaac programmed the evil simulation of Claire based on Helmsman Gordon Malloy's fear of surgery.Episode 1x10: Firestorm * Claire does not attend Chief Engineer Steve Newton's farewell party when he transfers to a space station because she has to work.Episode 1x11: New Dimensions * Perhaps out of dedication to her career in medicine, Doctor Finn has a green streak of hair on her left side at the front, the color of the Medical section of the Planetary Union. * Living aboard a space vessel away from Earth, Claire misses rain the most.Episode 2x06: A Happy Refrain * Claire's favorite food is potato cakes.Episode 2x06: A Happy Refrain * Her favorite movie is film Mind of Hermes.Episode 2x06: A Happy Refrain * Her favorite vacation spot is Saint Lucia.Episode 2x06: A Happy Refrain * Her favorite drink is champagne.Episode 2x06: A Happy Refrain * Her favorite animal is the dolphin.Episode 2x06: A Happy Refrain * Prior to Penny Johnson Jerald's casting as Claire on The Orville, she portrayed Kasidy Yates ''on ''Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, where she dated and eventually married Captain Benjamin Sisko, who was the Emissary of The Prophets on Bajor, or simply, "The Emissary." Coincidentally, Claire's love interest on The Orville, Isaac, also has a known alias as "The Emissary." * Claire Finn was born in Baltimore, Maryland, the same location as the birthplace of her actress, Penny Johnson Jerald. * In late 2420, she leads couples counseling between Second Officer Bortus and Klyden.Episode 2x02: Primal Urges Appearances Notes promotional still.]] References Category:Orville Crew Category:Characters Category:Humans